Think again…you can’t afford NOT to invest in your leaders during this turbulent time.

The very real pressures of an economic downturn and the tightening of learning budgets doesn’t mean professional development needs to go away. Not surprisingly, there is an increased need for leadership development as organizations face uncertain conditions and find they need the essential skills that are vital during reorganization and periods of adjustment.

Because many organizations are facing unavoidable restructuring due to reduced resources, according to a survey recently completed by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (results overview here), 54% of organizational leaders expect a greater emphasis on leadership development and 37% anticipate an increase in soft skills development. The survey also noted that during prior slow economic periods, over a quarter of organizations—the forward-thinking ones—resisted the urge to reduce their training budgets.

Saying there’s still a need for learning and employee development does not mean there’s no room for change, of course. In the ASTD/ICP survey, for example, 35% expect an increased emphasis on e-learning solutions this year. A recent article by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) outlined tips for prioritizing and “training on a budget” (link here). Brandon Hall’s Top 5 Training Trends for 2009 (article here) reflects both the economic conditions and the continued presence of technology in employee development initiatives: mobile learning, Do-It-Yourself options, flexible curricula, virtual environments, and game-based programming are all hot this year.

These current optimistic developments with emphasis on continued professional growth in the workplace show that companies are working hard to find new creative ways to accomplish current or future learning objectives with limited resources, simply because past results prove the effort is worth the investment. Rather than throw in the towel, shift your priorities towards more effective applied learning solutions. The result will be a strong organization that doesn’t have to waste time “bouncing back” when economic conditions improve.

Ashley Andrus is President of Zoe Training & Consulting. Linda Anderson has served with Zoe Training in various roles over the past 14 years, and is currently webmaster and web content developer.

Even when times are good and budgets are flush, it can be easy for managers to view training and development as a cost rather than an investment towards bottom-line returns. When the economy is tight, and your boss has ordered you to cut your 2009 budget by 15 percent, and across-the-board spending freezes are the order of the day, justifying programs can feel like an uphill battle.

When done right, people development pays long-term dividends for your organization: morale is better, turnover drops, your ability to recruit qualified employees improves—and that’s all above and beyond the resulting skills enhancement and performance efficiency improvements (that result). Even in lean times, workforce development remains a “must-do” for forward-thinking organizations.

The question then becomes prioritizing possible initiatives and stretching the most that you can out of your training and development budget. Some practical suggestions for maximizing your resources include:

Identify high-reward programs that result in near-term bottom line impacts: Project Management, Six Sigma/LEAN, Sales and Negotiations, Finance for Non-Financial Managers, Time Management—each of these topics has a direct, immediate, tangible effect on employee skills impacting your organization’s bottom line.

Put your internal subject matter experts to work: Many topics (especially those related to your internal systems and processes) can be well-suited for training by existing employees. Identify subject matter experts and put them to work! Although topic expertise does not necessarily translate into training experience, you can utilize peer mentoring, coaching, and brown-bag sessions to make the most of internal resources.

Utilize technology in a variety of creative ways: E-learning courses and webinars remain popular and low-cost means of sharing knowledge, but today’s technology allows for many additional uses as well. Training can be conducted in Second Life™ or other virtual environment. Your intranet can function as a medium for asking questions and connecting employees with critical information. Social networking sites can be put to work for research and learning purposes. Opportunities abound for innovative and cost-effective knowledge transfer.

With some determination, creativity, and a willingness to explore new avenues of people development, you’ll make it through the budget crunch without giving up your training initiatives.

Print this page